says of the trumps, sununus, neocons, no, this time you ask too much? no. all the evidence is he'll remain romney to the same crowd that took "w". used him and dumped him in history's hamper. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. cleanup begins after sandy decimates towns and leaves millions in the dark. we'll have the latest on the damage and the government federal response. what do you think of the federal response now? has it been good? this is "the ed show." let's get to work. my message to the federal government, no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they are needed as fast as possible. >> president obama has put disaster relief in high gear as millions across the east coast are in peril.

>> the cooperation has been outstanding. >> meanwhile, romney's silence has been deafening. >> would you eliminate aid to fema if you were president? >> good to see you. thanks. >> as hurricane sandy wreaks havoc across the northeast, first responders, nurses and neighbors have stepped up in tremendous acts of heroism. we'll take a look at these brave men and women tonight. but first we'll bring you the latest on the disaster across the northeast. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the aftermath of sandy is coming into focus and the destruction is heartbreaking. sandy's path along the east coast devastated miles of shoreline and major communities. officials in 9 states are reporting 44 deaths related to the storm. 23 of those here in the state of new york. the storm will be one of the costliest in american history. it is estimated to cost between $30 billion and $50 billion. you only need to look at the

images of the flooding in new york city to see why. a nearly 14-foot storm surge engulfed lower manhattan last night and roadways on the east river were overflowing. tunnels filmed with seawater. streets surrounding apartment buildings were submerged. most of lower manhattan continues to be without power at this hour. the new york city subway system is still 23409 running as transit workers deal with the flooded tunnels and the damaging effects of saltwater. the underground path train connecting new york to new jersey is still also washed out. this photo captures the peak hour of flooding last night at the world trade center construction site. a six-alarm inferno raged in the queens neighborhood of breezy point point and officials say more than 80 homes were burned beyond repair. more than 100 homes in the community were damaged. amazingly there were no

fatalities. mayor michael bloomberg said there were 23 friars throughout new york including this one. you're watching an explosion at a con ed son power station at manhattan's east side. con edison said this is the worst storm outage situation it has ever had to deal with. overall, more than 8 million people are without power up and down the east coast, travelers continue to be stranded. more than 18,000 flights across the country have been canceled. this photo from the jetblue terminal at laguardia airport shows why. president obama arrived at red cross headquarters in washington, d.c. as relief efforts continued. >> this storm is not yet over. we've gotten briefings from the national hurricane center. it is still moving north. there are still communities that could be affected and so i want to emphasize there's still risks of flooding. there are still risks of downed power lines, risks of high winds and so it is very important for

the public to continue to monitor the situation in your local community, listen to your state and local officials, follow instructions. >> the president told relief agency officials to do whatever it takes to keep people safe and restore services. >> my instructions to the federal agency has been do not figure out why we can't do something. i want to you figure out how we do something. i want you to cut through red tape. i want you to cut through bureaucracy. >> nowhere is the power of sandy more important than the coast of new jersey, atlantic city is underwater. the boardwalk at seaside heights was obliterated. amusement park rides are floating in the ocean. aerial footage shows miles and miles of destruction with no hope of salvaging lost property. the new jersey coastline has been completely changed. president obama arrives in new jersey tomorrow to see what happened firsthand. new jersey governor chris

christie surveyed the damage from the air and then consoled storm victims on the ground. >> all my life -- >> it's a very difficult day. a great difficult day so we just start -- yeah, today we survive and that's the important thing. we'll rebuild. >> we're tough. >> tough folks. >> the scope of the storm is absolutely stunning. aside from delivering high winds and driving rain, it was also dumping snow on areas of west virginia. the cleanup from sandy has just begun. state and federal officials are urging patience. the full extent of sandy's toll won't be known until days, even weeks to come. we have two reports tonight. i'm joined this evening by nbc news correspondent jay gray, live in battery park in lower manhattan and ron allen, who

joins us from point pleasant beach, new jersey. mr. gray, great to have you with us tonight. you were right at the heart of the devastation in lower manhattan. how are the people dealing with that right now? i know a lot of people have evacuate wad but there's still lot down there. >> good to see how it played out. i think there's still a stunned silence here to be real honest. you know the area and usually there's a buzz, there's an energy on the streets. the power is out. the traffic lights are out. there is no congestion. a lot of the businesses are closed so a lot just looking and not believing what they see at this point. they did come down though to the seawall here to take a look at what happened. the water going into places it had never been here, 14 feet over the wall and into the park, downed trees and what you saw was a lot of lifetime new yorkers getting pictures of those trees with the statue of liberty and never thought they would see anything like this but

they are new yorkers and so they're also quick to point out we're resilient. we can get through this but i think their understanding as you talked about it's going to take some time to bounce back from it. >> are the waters receding, jay? >> yeah, they are in some area, that's going to take a lot longer. obviously most of the water gone in battery park. that's why they allowed us to come back in. the subways are the main issue, the veins that pump the heart of the city and working around the clock to try to clean things out there. understand this wasn't just water in there. it was saltwater that was delivered to this area and there are electronics down there so that's going to be a major issue. they'll have to get it all out and test everything. they're going to bring the trains back online when they can. the good news some bus service was restored today. more tomorrow. they'll add buses. they're going to alter routes and try to get back out into the city once businesses re-open. again, that's just going to take some time and in some cases it's

going to take much more than a week or so. >> the fact is they just don't know and this saltwater is so terribly damaging to any kind of equipment. jay gray live in battery park in lower manhattan, thanks for joining us tonight. let's go live now to ron allen with us tonight. he is coming to us from point pleasant beach, new jersey. ron, governor christie says there's no comparison for the damage that he has seen on the shoreline. your impressions? do you agree? >> reporter: well, i've seen this close up and personal and there's just utter devastation as far as the eye can see. we're standing on what used to be a parking lot of this hotel behind me, the hotel was completely destroyed. the front of it that faces the ocean is completely ripped apart. it was boarded up but that didn't make any difference at all. what i'm standing on was a parking lot and it's now covered with sand and the sand is about, oh, two feet deep or higher in

some places, the ocean is about a block in that direction and last night, the ocean came roaring down streets like this into this town at times the water was waist deep or higher or so and it completely flooded this area. there are some dunes back there that were supposed to be the protection for the town. part of the barrier protection but were completely overwhelmed by the storm. sandy hit an hour or so drive south of atlantic city, so that's how close it was and even as the storm was bearing down, you could feel the wind, you could feel the rains in the hours before it actually made landfill. but here as you can see just utter devastation everywhere. all the sand is piled up. they're trying to make way for vehicles to get through. it's almost as if there was a blizzard here and there were snow but trying to move sand. if you were to go further inland you would see flooding there and see flooding from river, from an inlet, from the bays and it's the same story up and down the coast from sandy hook all the way down to cape may in the south. there is complete devastation up

and down the jersey shore. >> ron, any speculation or any word tonight on when the residents are going to be able to start coming back? >> it's hard to know and i'm sure that's going to vary from community to community. there are some who stayed here. this is an area completely evacuated and quiet. no one is here for the most part. it's completely dark. there are no services. there's -- we can smell gas in the air in some neighborhoods as we were walking around trying to get a sense of things. it's hard to estimate but it's going to be a while before it's safe to come back and when they come back here they will be just completely overwhelmed by what they find. >> ron, do you get a sense of where do you start? i mean there's so much devastation and so many things have gone wrong in the path of this storm as far as the devastation left behind. don't you get a feeling of where are these folks going to start? >> well, they're going to start at the beginning and they'll go to the end and people here are hearty, they are determined. people who survived this are

very grateful for that and there was some sense of optimism here. you could find that when you talk to people who stayed through the storm. i don't think that people are -- they're going to try not to let them get them down but, of course, it's a very, very difficult thing and just think of the other ways that life has been set back. schools have been closed for a couple of days and maybe closed longer. people haven't gotten to work. all that's been disrupted. the normal rhythms of life have been completely upset and, of course the physical geography has been changed. homes destroyed and there are 2.4 million customers' homes without power here. that's about 60% of the population of new jersey and the governor warned even before this happened that it might take a week or longer to get the lights and power back on and we'll see, ed. you know, it's great to hear promises of federal aid but when you get on the ground here it's going to take a while for all that to get here and it's just going to take a while and people will have to endure that. >> and that is a mouthful. no doubt about it as the devastation continues and the

rebuilding, a lot of frustration is going to set in and patience is going to be the key. ron allen reporting from point pleasant beach, new jersey. thanks so much for joining us. coming up, they're the middle class heroes ofhurricane sandy. we'll talk about the men and women helping millions of americans in the aftermath of the storm. find out what's at stake for them in this election when we come back. le things still get you. for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache.

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coming up, president obama thanks the first responders who saved others and risked their own during the storm. governor christie praises the president and the federal government's response to the storm. while mitt romney is silent on his plans to privatize fema. we'll have the details. and with one week before the election, what effect will the storm have on the campaign trail? i'll talk with msnbc political analyst richard wolffe. we'll be right back. stay with us.

thanks for staying with us tonight. here on "the ed show" police and firefighters are working to get families out of the flooded neighborhooded tonights. rescue workers carried children to safety in little ferry just a few hours ago. hundreds of thousands of firefighters, police officers and nurses continue to work in harm's way tonight. they're members of america's middle class and are the heroes in the wake of this storm. nearly 200 firefighters struggled to put out this six-alarm fire in breezy point, queens, early this morning. the neighborhood flooded and 80

houses went up in flames. the firefighters abandoned their trucks and waded in carrying equipment on their back, 1 of 23 fires in the new york city area last night. at almost the same time, one of the city's premiere medical centers lost backup power in lower manhattan. nurses, doctors and paramedics had to get 215 patients to neighboring hospitals. workers got more than a dozen babies out of the intensive care unit. we are told tonight that all of them made it okay. those nurses, doctors and paramedics got the patients to safety at the height of the storm. president obama is calling all of these workers heroes. during the darkness of the storm, i think we also saw what's brightest in america. i mean i think all of us have been obviously shocked by the force of mother nature as we watch it on television. at the same time we've also seen nurses at nyu hospital carrying

fragile newborns to safety. we've seen incredibly brave firefighters in queens waist deep in water battling intern anothers and rescuing people in boats. one of my favorite stories is down in north carolina, the coast guard going out to save a sinking ship, they sent a rescue swimmer out. and the rescue swimmer said, hi, i'm dan, i understand you guys need a ride. you know, that kind of spirit of resilience and strength, but most importantly looking out for one another, that's why we always bounce back from these kinds of disasters. >> let's bring in john nichols washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine and author of the book "uprising." the american middle class in this election cycle has been at the focal point of many conversations. this is the economic portion of america that's been asked to do

more. this is the portion of america that has had their voices in the workplace attacked. their pensions cut. their wages sliced and yet we see when there is an emergency as what we are seeing with this storm, they step up and they are americans. what does it say about this country in the middle of this hot political debate that performances such as this are delivered by these americans? >> well, it's pretty inspiring, ed, and you're right, in many ways this year's election is a referendum on not just government. that's too vague a term. it's on the human infrastructure of public services in this country, the people who go out and make sure that when you go to sleep at night, and a storm is coming in, that that next morning you'll see a road crew out there clearing the road. you'll see ditch diggers out there, you know, kind of moving all kinds of debris.

firefighters and cops, scientists and technicians, nurses and doctor, people who will run not away from the crisis, but toward it. and they will do so because they understand a very old premise of the american experiment, our constitution in its preamble talks about protecting and promoting the public welfare and ensuring domestic tranquility. those terms may seem old fashioned. they may seem vague. what they're talking about is making sure that we have an infrastructure of public service in this country that is ready to jump into action and to protect us all and we saw that last night. we saw it through the night. i followed a lot of what was happening on msnbc, of course, but also on the international association of firefighters' website. they had tweets and facebook messages coming in from up and down the east coast from crews in fairfax county and in queens

and along the jersey shore telling what they were doing, what they were coming back from and what you realized is that we've got union members, firefighters, cops, nurses and others who, you know, are passionate about doing their job and it's amazing to me, startling to me that we have public officials who would attack them. >> well, romney has -- i'm going to pull it aside tonight and i'm not going to make any bones about it because the conversation in this country s hases to dismantle unions. where it hit, firefighters, police officers, nurses, many of them are union folk and many risked their lives last night in the line of duty yet these are the people that are being vilified by many politicians and being viewed as the problem. they're not giving up enough for america while the top 2% is asking for even more. i mean i think the conversation begs for a priority list of and for us to point out exactly who

is doing the job in this country. who are we calling on when lives are on the line? when there's a disaster? who do we count on? it's not the top 2%. it's the people on the line in the middle class who are getting it done. john, great to have you with us. i appreciate your time. thanks so much. governor chris christie of new jersey praises the president and good government. where does that leave mitt romney romney. joan walsh joins me for that. romney continues to run bogus commercials in ohio even though he knows they are false. ohio state senator nina turner and chris redfern are here with reaction. stay tuned.

welcome back to "the ed show." in sandy's aftermath good government was in full effect and frankly mitt romney is on the wrong side of it. governor chris christie of new jersey praised the federal government and president obama in particular. >> i was on the phone for the third time yesterday last night with the president of the united states. he called me at midnight last night. he accelerated the major disaster declaration for new jersey without the usual red tape. i can't thank the president enough for that. signed that this morning. and so i have to say this, the cooperation has been great

with fema here on the ground at our intelligence center, and the cooperation from the president of the united states has been outstanding. he deserves great credit. >> mitt romney, on the other hand, cannot run from his declaration about fema during the campaign. the primary campaign. >> every time you have an occasion that takes something from the federal government and sends it back to the states, that's in the right direction, and if you can go even further and send it to the private sector that's even better. we should take all of what we're doing and say what are the things we're doing that we don't have to do and that's what we have to stop doing. we're borrowing $1.6 million more than we're taking in. we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. it's simply immoral. >> all that we're doing with the federal government is what he said. today romney held a storm relief event in dayton, ohio, at the same site he planned to hold a campaign rally. the instinct to help people is always welcome. the red cross will be the first but the red cross will be the

first to say canned goods are not useful in a situation like this one. >> a lot of goods here. and i know there's more coming in and we'll box these things up in just a minute and put them on some trucks and then we'll send them into -- i think it's new jersey as a site that we've identified that can take these goods and distribute them to people who need them but also if you can write a check to american red cross, that's welcome, as well. >> governor romney loaded some alongside with senator rob portman of ohio. again, questions of fema dogged the candidate. >> governor, are you going to eliminate fema? >> are you guys ready for the light stuff? >> let's turn to sam stein, political reporter for "the huffington post and joan walsh,

the author of "what's wrong with white people." what mitt romney wants to do with fema. this puts the candidate in a pretty tight spot, doesn't it? >> well, yes, of course it does, ed. i mean this moment really reminds me of that moment in 2008 when john mccain had his crazy reaction to the economic crash and wanted to suspend his campaign and go back to washington and really looked like he didn't understand what was at stake or what was going on. mitt romney looked ridiculous at that rally today. i mean he was talking about cleaning up -- one time he had to clean up a football field of rubbish and comparing that to disaster relief and i'm not somebody -- i think it's kind of silly when we say we can't play politics at this moment. there's always politics and right now we're having an election. we're having a debate over the future of our society and things like disaster relief are really quite pertinent, so it's not that he can't to me it's not that he can't campaign but go out there and take questions about what you want to do with fema and go out and defend your me first, devolve to the states

attitude. it's a good time to have a debate about it but he's scared so he won't do it. >> you know, this storm really seems to have taken the shirts off a lot of politicians and what we're really making of all of this. here's chris christie in a news conference before the storm yesterday. >> that i should call him directly at the white house and that he was going to be there and that i should just not worry about dealing with anybody else, call him so i appreciate that call from the president. proactive and i appreciate that type of leadership. >> quite a statement from the guy who gave the rnc's keynote address. >> on the other it's sort of sad we have to cheer these limited instances of cooperation. in a normal political system, christie and obama could work together seamlessly. but we've been in a system where it's a lot of partisanship and butting heads.

this is now the exception to the rule. with respect to what romney is doing, you know, what the storm managed to do is reduce him. it's no fault of his own. i respect the generosity and spirit behind trying to have these canned goods organized, these solicitations for the red cross but he's not the president and he's trying to become the president by calling governors in red states and organizing the events but unless you're in the office it doesn't fit you. >> you know, this is -- if politics stops at the water's edge for lack of a better term, why doesn't mitt romney just go see the devastation? if he wants to represent these americans and if he wants to be the president of the united states and the largest storm on record that's hit landfill in a country, why wouldn't he go right to those people and look them right in the eye and say, you know, if i'm president, i'm going to be here for you, i understand what you're going through right now. i have to -- if i'm going to lead this country, i have to see this devastation? what's the political downside of

that. >> it could be one that they don't want him there because it distracts resources away from the setting and probably be not beneficial for him to be there. on the other hand it's just what i said before. if he were to do stuff that a president would do it would come off as overly political and planned to a tee and it doesn't behoove him in the election season. he's in a tough spot. anything he does is going to be seen through the lens of an election. anything obama does is going to be seen as sort of the duties of a president. >> joan, your thoughts -- go ahead. >> i think sam is letting him off the hook too easily. he's a smart man. you can tig out you don't need canned goods in a crisis. he told the story about people in cape cod distributing -- bringing television sets for katrina victims. it was so detached from reality. that empathy gap. he doesn't have the judgment or the experience or the heart, i don't know what it is to really know what's needed. you get up there.

you can campaign for the red cross and ask for donations but even i knew when he did it, it was a ridiculous thing to do. >> he didn't have to do it in ohio at the site of a campaign. >> excellent point. just happen to go to a swing state. >> if chris christie can put aside any political calculation why can't the leader of the republican party? you mean to tell me the only people that got devastated by the storm are people that are going to vote for barack obama? if he wants to be the leader of the free world he's got to get face to face with the people going through the devastation to snow it. >> he should answer questions about the fema policy which is so obvious that he needs to explain what he meant in that debate. he took -- i think he avoided 14 questions or something like that on the fema policy which is inappropriate. >> he's walking into a storm. good to have you with us. a lot more coming up on "the ed show" stay with us. campaigning takes a break. but romney's whoppers just won't quit. >> obama took gm and chrysler

into bankruptcy and sold chrysler to italians who are going to build screams in china. >> chairman of the ohio democrats, chris redfern and senator nina turner are here to tell us why the buckeye state isn't buying it. and coming up, richard wolffe is here with the latest on how hurricane sandy will affect the election with six days out, america looks at which candidate they want in an emergency. >> cooperation has been great with fema on the ground and the cooperation from the president of the united states has been outstanding. he deserves great credit.

he deserves great credit. welcome back to "the ed show." throughout this entire campaign mitt romney seems to have really struggled with the truth, don't you think? but his new jeep to china ad campaign could be the biggest lie to date. romney is running a completely false commercial in ohio.

it claims because of the auto loan, chrysler is planning to move jeep production to china. the claim is a flat out lie. after romney was told the ad was false, he doubled down and started running this radio commercial. >> barack obama says he saved the auto industry, but for who? ohio or china? under president obama, gm cut 15,000 american jobs. but they are planning to double the number of cars built in china, which means 15,000 more jobs for china. and now comes word that chrysler plans to start making jeeps in, you guessed it, china. >> romney's campaign is running it in toledo, ohio. this spot is even more dishonest than the tv ad. not only does it double down on the jeep lie but it suggests the auto loan didn't save the auto industry. well, general motors, the general motors, responded to the ad today saying "at this stage,

we're looking at a hubble telescope-length distances between campaign ads and reality. gm's creating jobs in the united states and repatriating profits back to this country should be a source of bipartisan pride." these ads also had jeep employees scared about losing their jobs. so chrysler's ceo felt the need to put the -- to set the record straight. he pointed out, mitt romney's lie for the second time. in an e-mail to employees he wrote "jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the united states and will constitute the backbone of the brand. it is inaccurate to suggest anything different." now, who do you want to believe, the guys running the company or mitt romney? these aren't the only lies that romney's campaign is pushing. think progress properties they're training poll watchers to mislead voters in the state

of wisconsin. one example is poll watchers were taught any person who is a convicted felon cannot vote. it's a flat out lie. in wisconsin felons can vote. meanwhile, in ohio the lies continue. former minnesota senator norm coleman on the stump for his buddy told a group of ohio voters on monday, roe v. wade would be safe under a romney administration. really. then we'll pass, a group campaigning for social surpluses declined to comment on coleman's remarks. doesn't seem like they're on the same page. let's bring in nina turner and chris redfern, the chairman of the ohio democratic party. great to have both of you with us. nina, you first. mitt romney knows these ads are lies and he is still running them. what does it say about him, his campaign and also the intelligence of ohio voters not to differentiate -- be able to differentiate between the lies

and the truth? >> he has no shame and no soul. if you're lying in the beginning you'll be lying in the end and shows a sense of desperation to try invoke fear. they know good and dag gone well that the president threw a life line out to the auto industry whereby one of every eight jobs in ohio over 850,000 jobs aristic willed to that industry and for them to try to scare the citizens is despicable. we won't forget this is the game governor that joined forces prosecutor with the republicans and supported senate bill 5 which would have taken away collective bargaining rights. gm will invest $500 million into that plant, ed. he is lying in the beginning and he'll be lying all the way through this. >> i don't think the obama campaign could hand a better script to the romney people and say, here, do this and implode in the state of ohio but the question is, chris, what are you

hearing out of toledo? are the people of ohio reacting to this and do you think these false ads are having an impact? >> oh, sure, i live right down the road from the jeep plant, about 35 minutes from north toledo where a state-of-the-art facility was built about a decade ago with the support of a republican governor across northwest ohio and thousands and thousands of jobs were saved because of it. let me remind you, i know you know this, general motors and fiat which owns a share of chrysler which produces the iconic brand jeep are publicly traded corporations. with lives of workers at risk. and you are greeted by a television kwhescommercial suggg your job is about to be shipped to china. mitt romney knows it's not true and if he doesn't think it's true all he has to do is listen to the ceos of chrysler, of general motors, of ford who point out rightly that this investment in the american automobile industry was right

for ohio, more importantly right for the country. and, in fact, jobs are going to be created at that jeep facility in north toledo and all across northwest and northern ohio. great cities like -- great cities like parma and toledo benefiting because of the leadership of barack obama. >> seems like there's no embarrassment on the part of the romney campaign to say, we were wrong, the people who are actually running the company are telling the truth. i mean they have no boundaries, but nina, what about norm coleman, former senator of minnesota. he told a group of ohio voters romney wouldn't reverse roe v. wade. what's your reaction. >> laughable. this governor is already on record interviewed by mike huckabee where he declared he would get rid of it calling it judicial activism. women are not falling for it. in the state of ohio 55%/40% women are in support of the president. we cannot allow women to go backwards and certainly cannot

allow women to be treated like second class citizens. you have a running mate of the governor that just identified rape as a method of conception. they are absolutely insane. they have lost their ever loving minds and it is to the voighters in the state and across this nation to help them find their minds but find it somewhere else. despicable. the whole campaign is laced with lies. >> the story out of wisconsin and you're hearing similar things happening in ohio about possible poll watching activity. how much of an impact is this going to have? how do you combat it? >> we're ready for it and have lawyers ready to combat it. this is about the remaining 3% or 4% that are undecided and anything the romney campaign can do to distract and divide, i suspect over the course of the next six days mitt romney is going to announce he's an unaffiliated undecided voter from ohio just to seek those votes and try to put him over the top. we're ready for it whether it's

the notorious billboards put up in cleveland trying to distract the voters, whether it's the attacks on jeep workers, we're ready for it. >> ohio state senator nina turner and chris redfern. thank you. coming up majority n non-mccain uses a storm relief event to slam the president on libya? i'll have the video. stay tuned.

up next, john mccain using storm relief to attack president obama on his handling of benghazi? we'll have the details. and in the big finish, richard wolffe joins me to the presidential campaign a week before the election. we're coming right back. one week from tonight we may

one week from tonight we may know who the next president will be. hurricane sandy has presented a unique challenge for the campaigns just one week from the the election. president obama canceled campaign events in order to monitor recovery efforts.

in an e-mail to supporters, campaign manager jim messina asked for donations not for the campaign, but for the american red cross stating "soon enough we'll get back to work on the most campaign of our lifetime. but the most important thing at this moment is you and your loved ones are safe and the rest of us do what we can to speed the recovery." the romney campaign, on the other hand, found themselves struggling to find the right tone. in an effort to avoid seeming insensitive to the millions of americans affected by the storm, the romney camp canceled appearances on monday and tuesday but rebranded others as storm relief events. senator john mccain spoke on behalf of governor romney at an event in ohio today and apparently missed the memo about putting politics aside. mccain slammed the president's handling of the the attack on the american consulate in libya.

>> this president is either engaged in a massive cover-up deceiving the american people, or he is so grossly incompetent that he's not qualified to be commander in chief of our armed forces. it's either one. >> or senator mccain certainly isn't bitter about losing to barack obama back in 2008. senator mccain's decision to politicize what was allegedly supposed to be an apolitical gathering speaks volumes. don't you think? tonight there are millions of americans being assisted by the federal government who i'm sure would argue with senator mccain's assessment of president obama as grossly incompetent. if you're looking for a way to help, consider donating to the red cross. you can visit their website at www.redcross.org. coming up, sandy's impact on the election. we're just one week away before the country goes to the polls. can the president go back to the

campaign trail? should he? should he stay on this assignment? richard wolffe weighs in next. era laundry detergent once stomped a stain with such power, [ rumbling, crowd screaming ] the results could be felt around the world. twice the stain fighting power as the leading liquid value brand. era detergent. a lot of fight for a little dough.

in the big finish tonight, how do you campaign during a disaster? what do you do? mitt romney had an answer. don't call it campaigning. romney called a rally in ohio today a storm relief event. yet press badges still referring to it as a romney victory rally.

there were plenty of photo-ops for the republican nominee, as well. romney has just a few days to get his message out. he hasn't been consistent in the past, so now what does he do? as for president obama, he's canceled his campaign events today and tomorrow. instead he will survey damage in new jersey alongside republican governor chris christie. he needs to show the country that government works and government resources are important and when a big disaster strikes, you need the federal government to step in and work with state and local governments. now is the time for the president to show true leadership and i think he is and according to one republican and romney surrogate, he is. chris christie has praised the president's efforts but had a little patience for a fox news question about a possible photo-op with mitt romney in the days to come. >> we hear that perhaps he's going to -- mr. romney may do some storm-related events. is there any possibility that

governor romney may go to flj to tour some of the damage with you? >> i have no idea nor am i the least bit concerned or interested. i have 2.4 million people out of power. i've got devastation on the shore. i've got floods in the northern part of my state. if you think right now i give a damn about presidential politics then you don't know me. >> this storm undoubtedly is a wale wake-up call to those conservatives who want to leave disaster relief up to the states. turn it over to them. to those who want to privatize everything. the state of new jersey right now is overwhelmed. they don't have enough resources. the state's roar sources just aren't to help those without power or flooded out of their home. you need a total effort across the country in a crisis like there that's why there is a federal government. federal and local governments working together is the successful formula for the state of new jersey. it's going to take time. but to say to turn it over to the states and say you're on your own, i think really is

short-sighted. joining me is richard wolffe, political analyst and vice president and executive director of msnbc.com. how do you campaign? this is walking on high coals. >> it is. >> and what's the right call here? >> well, first of all you've got to show what kind of leader you want to be. campaigns respect just about getting elected. they try to project to the american people what kind of president you want to be. now, it's one thing for mitt romney to stand on stage with a microphone. if he wanted to show compassion he should have just done the photo-op of those in need. that's what this president will be doing with governor christie. you go there and look presidential and speak for the country. it's not just at this event. any time current events have injected themselves into the election, governor romney has stumbled. he did it with the libya attacks. he wants the election to play itself out too badly rather than

seeing it as a moment where he can step up and say this is the kind of leader i will be. >> is this a time where political sins can be forgiven? i mean you see chris christie and president obama working back and forth. the public sees this. this is really the way it's supposed to be. isn't it? >> look, this is not a moment for retribution or punishment or the accounting of past grievances but about practicalities and the extraordinary thing, we can set aside what's going to happen on the ground as important as it is, remember, this president has been denied any claim of bipartisanship for the last three, four years. that's been the intentional policy of republicans from inaugural night through mitch mcconnell on health care. here you have one of the most outspoke conservatives, someone with a reputation of giving the unvarnished truth going out and saying this president has done a wonderful, that was his word, a wonderful job. when governor christie says that, that tiny sliver that

remains, independents who look at this president saying are you pol polari polarizing or bringing the country together. maybe if he sayses ssays, it's being -- >> we have the first storm-related attack ad. americans for tax reform sent around this flier to households in virginia. is this just the beginning? >> it is, but, remember, it's incredibly clunky. this has gone out into homes in virginia where you have people still devastated by the storm and recovering from it. if this really is a genuine grover norquist piece of literature how did he get a reputation for being good at politics? >> i don't know why mitt romney didn't say a lot of you americans across the country have donated to my campaign. we're talking $50 billion worth of damage. why don't you give to the red cross? i mean he j